Body Language OR That's What You Get
by Quellesirel Peredhil
Summary: Future fic. Tezuka and Echizen are professional tennis players headed towards a press conference in Las Vegas. Tezuka does not let his guard down, but Echizen might beat it down with a tennis racket. Buchou just might have a few surprises up his sleeve.


Prologue

The Fila luggage set among the other checkout bags stuck out like a sore thumb, and the tennis bag marked R. Echizen made it all too easy for Tezuka to observe who stood just a few spaces before him in line, no matter how hard he tried to absorb himself in Catcher in the Rye. The main character made it easy for Tezuka to dislike him – he let his guard down all too often. He ignored the squeak of Echizen's sneakers against the tile as he skimmed the page. Perhaps liking Holden Caulfield was the challenge.

While the boy's shoes might be making music, Echizen didn't say boo and his luggage checked through without mishap. Well, one of the suitcases had been a tad overweight, but the tennis star could spare the extra to accommodate. Tezuka's bag had the accurate dimensions for carry on. He had no plans to let his luggage out of his sight. By nature he tried to refrain from checking things, after all, how much did he really need for a few days in Las Vegas? The wheels on his compact suitcase spun audibly across the tile until a white sneakered foot halted it, forcing Tezuka to look up from his reading. Having a book in hand made him feel less awkward in crowds, and he disliked the disruption of that safety blanket. It was bad enough he would have to put up with security, although he had to admit he admired their thoroughness.

"Buchou," Echizen's voice cracked a bit, but the cocky tone hadn't changed an iota. The boy was ruddy about the face, indicating a bit too much time left in the sun and from Tezuka's assumptions, an exorbitant amount of time playing tennis. Good. If they were to be at the same press conference, they might as well get in a few unofficial matches. He fully expected Echizen's skill level to be up to par.

Tezuka nodded succinctly at him. Echizen smirked and tilted his hat up so he could display the full extent of his intrigued expression. Tezuka might have been minorly affected by that predatorial gaze had Echizen exceeded the height of his shoulder. Once Echizen removed his foot from his path, Tezuka made his way through security and into the terminal, not taking all too much notice of his tag along. Although, the extent to which Echizen was distracted by the occasional puppy they passed amused him. His eyes would follow the animal and he would pull a face like a child parting from their best friend forever. It surprised him Echizen did not fall down any escalators. If Tezuka had not pulled him out of the way in time, he would have walked into one of the pillars. Can't do for Pillars to collide; Tezuka felt one outdid themselves when they were appalled by their own pun.

Carefully, Tezuka marked his page with a Lord of the Rings bookmark (where that came from, he had no idea, honestly) and tucked the novel under his arm. He presented the ticket to the stewardess and looked at his companion in confusion. Echizen had linked arms with him.

"Your little brother?" the stewardless inquired, a smile in her voice.

"Aa," Tezuka responded. Echizen's hypothetical feathers were ruffled; he scowled at the woman, unhanded Tezuka and took his own ticket stub back tersely.

"I'm his guardian," Echizen lied to the stewardess. "Buchou isn't supposed to travel alone," or without me, Echizen added silently.

Tezuka did not know whether he wanted to snort with disbelief or dope slap the boy. He settled for donning his normal impassive expression while watching the flight attendant coo over how utterly cute Echizen was. The young tennis star did not look pleased.  
As they edged into their seats, Tezuka saw fit to inform Echizen, "You no longer have to call me Buchou."

"Che, whatever, Buchou," Echizen took the seat next to Tezuka and tucked his backback underneath the seat in front of him. He had glanced at the boy's ticket and was fairly sure Echizen's seat was actually supposed to be in first class. The dirty looks Echizen ignored from the disgruntled salaryman solidified Tezuka's theory.

Echizen decided he would not be informing the pissed off passenger that there was an empty seat in first class, just for that look. He reclined his seat and set his arms behind his head, knowing full well that the stewardess would scold him into having his seat properly positioned ten minutes later. Tezuka shook his head and opened up the The Catcher in the Rye, mostly to disguise his staring out the window than for actual reading purposes. After all, he did not make a habit of uselessly staring off into space. It was not a productive use of time.

It did not take a heck of a long time for Echizen to fall asleep on Tezuka's shoulder with his legs inconveniently placed as much in the aisle as possible. Even in the sleep, it seemed he wanted to wreck havoc. Tezuka decided shoving him off would not be worth the struggle and turned his attention back to the passing clouds.


End file.
